Financial Literacy

Portantino in minority on bill Assemblyman Anthony Portantino voted against a bill to allow the Metropolitan Transit Authority to install toll roads on the 210 and 10 freeways using federal funding. The roads, intended as a congestion management device, were authorized in SB 1422. The measure passed 64-11. Portantino joined 41 of his colleagues in approving a bill, that requires local authorities to reject subdivision maps for projects in a high fire hazard area or an area under state supervision.

Hathaway-Sycamores Child and Family Services recently honored The Los Angeles Donor Circle of The Women's Foundation of California with the "Champion for Children" award at their annual gala dinner event Not Just Monday Night Football held last month at the Westin Pasadena. The Los Angeles Donor Circle of The Women's Foundation of California was honored for its commitment to building economic self-sufficiency and increasing financial literacy in women and girls. The event featured dinner, comedy entertainment by Don Friesen, musical accompaniment by Hyperion 4, a silent auction, along with screening of an Atlanta Falcons vs. New Orleans Saints football game.

Six local nonprofits are getting extra contributions to their causes thanks to the annual Women in Business event sponsored by local lawmakers. State Sen. Carol Liu (D-La Cañada Flintridge) chose to direct donations to the YWCA Glendale Women and Girl's Financial Literacy Program as well as Women At Work Pasadena. “Managing personal finances and securing meaningful work are fundamental to leading an independent and fulfilling life,” Liu said in a statement. Assemblymember Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge)

Hathaway-Sycamores Child and Family Services presents Not Just Monday Night Football, a fun, celebration gala dinner that is held annually and honors the agency's "Champion for Children." La Cañada Flintridge residents Jack MacKenzie and David Battaglia are on the committee organizing this year's event which honors The Los Angeles Donor Circle of The Women's Foundation of California for their commitment to building economic self-sufficiency and increasing financial literacy in women and girls.

Educating youth to financial literacy is key to surviving in today?s difficult economic times. That?s the message of American Investment Fellows, a national non-profit program begun earlier this year by four students at the University of Chicago, one of which is Crescenta Valley High School alum Ted Gonder. The non-profit educational organization involves college students as mentors and creates financial investment workshops and a 10-to-12-week curriculum for high schools, specifically targeted to urban public schools, Gonder previously told the Valley Sun. Now ?

I was a good student at La Cañada High. I got good grades, read the assigned books at home, and spent time talking to my teachers after class. I'd been a varsity athlete. I studied abroad and written a column in this newspaper. I was also a drug user. Many of my decisions during senior year of high school essentially amounted to wanton self-destruction. This was a five-month period of my life where I took hard drugs two or three times a month in fairly large doses, especially ecstasy.

For 38 years I had a picture hanging in my office of three kids in a rowboat, armed with wooden swords, attacking a pirate ship. The pirates wait pensively with cannons and pistols. As the kids climb ropes attempting to board the ship, the lead attacker screams, “Nothing is impossible to a valiant heart.” I believe that quote from Jeanne D'Albret and once again I found affirmation in the heart of Brendan Murran, a senior at La Cañada High School. Brendan is championing a teen initiative called the Diamond Fund.

Portantino in minority on bill Assemblyman Anthony Portantino voted against a bill to allow the Metropolitan Transit Authority to install toll roads on the 210 and 10 freeways using federal funding. The roads, intended as a congestion management device, were authorized in SB 1422. The measure passed 64-11. Portantino joined 41 of his colleagues in approving a bill, that requires local authorities to reject subdivision maps for projects in a high fire hazard area or an area under state supervision.